Albert Einstein as a great scientist
Signature
Name - Einstein
Full Name -Albert Einstein
Birth Place - Ulm, Württemberg, Germany
Date of Birth - 14 March 1879
Died - 18 April 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Qualification - Doctor's degree and much more
Occupation - Scientist
Zodiac Sign - Cancer
Height - 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, the first child of the Jewish couple Hermann and Pauline Einstein, née Koch. In June 1880 the family moved to Munich where Hermann Einstein and his brother Jakob founded the electrical engineering company Einstein & Cie. Albert Einstein's sister Maria, called Maja, was born on November 18, 1881. Einstein's childhood was a normal one, except that to his family's irritation, he learnt to speak at a late age. Beginning in 1884 he received private education in order to get prepared for school. 1885 he started learning to play violin. Beginning in 1885 he received his primary education at a Catholic school in Munich (Petersschule); in 1888 he changed over to the Luitpold-Gymnasium, also in Munich. However, as this education was not to his liking and, in addition, he did not get along with his form-master he left this school in 1894 without a degree and joined his family in Italy where they had settled meanwhile.
In order to be admitted to study at the "Eidgenoessische Polytechnische Schule" (later renamed ETH) in Zurich, Einstein took his entrance examination in October 1895. However, some of his results were insufficient and, following the advice of the rector, he attended the "Kantonsschule" in the town of Aarau in order to improve his knowledge. In early October 1896 he received his school-leaving certificate and shortly thereafter enrolled at the Eidgenoessische Polytechnische Schule with the goal of becoming a teacher in Mathematics and Physics. Einstein, being an average student, finished his studies with a diploma degree in July 1900. He then applied, without success, for assistantships at the Polytechnische Schule and other universities. Meanwhile he had abandoned the German citizenship and formally applied for the Swiss one which he was granted on February 21, 1901.
Around 1886 Albert Einstein began his school
career in Munich. As well as his violin lessons, which he had from age
six to age thirteen, he also had religious education at home where he
was taught Judaism. Two years later he entered the Luitpold Gymnasium
and after this his religious education was given at school. He studied
mathematics, in particular the calculus, beginning around 1891.
In 1894 Einstein's family moved to Milan but Einstein remained in
Munich. In 1895 Einstein failed an examination that would have allowed
him to study for a diploma as an electrical engineer at the
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich. Einstein renounced
German citizenship in 1896 and was to be stateless for a number of
years. He did not even apply for Swiss citizenship until 1899,
citizenship being granted in 1901.
Following the failing of the entrance exam to the ETH, Einstein attended
secondary school at Aarau planning to use this route to enter the ETH
in Zurich. While at Aarau he wrote an essay (for which was only given a
little above half marks!) in which he wrote of his plans for the future,
see [13]:-
If I were to have the good fortune to pass my examinations, I would go to Zurich. I would stay there for four years in order to study mathematics and physics. I imagine myself becoming a teacher in those branches of the natural sciences, choosing the theoretical part of them. Here are the reasons which lead me to this plan. Above all, it is my disposition for abstract and mathematical thought, and my lack of imagination and practical ability.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
Indeed Einstein succeeded with his plan graduating in 1900 as a teacher
of mathematics and physics. One of his friends at ETH was Marcel Grossmann who was in the same class as Einstein. Einstein tried to obtain a post, writing to Hurwitz who held out some hope of a position but nothing came of it. Three of Einstein's fellow students, including Grossmann,
were appointed assistants at ETH in Zurich but clearly Einstein had not
impressed enough and still in 1901 he was writing round universities in
the hope of obtaining a job, but without success.
He did manage to avoid Swiss military service on the grounds that he had
flat feet and varicose veins. By mid 1901 he had a temporary job as a
teacher, teaching mathematics at the Technical High School in
Winterthur. Around this time he wrote:-
I have given up the ambition to get to a university ...
Another temporary position teaching in a private school in Schaffhausen followed. Then Grossmann's
father tried to help Einstein get a job by recommending him to the
director of the patent office in Bern. Einstein was appointed as a
technical expert third class.
Einstein worked in this patent office from 1902 to 1909, holding a
temporary post when he was first appointed, but by 1904 the position was
made permanent and in 1906 he was promoted to technical expert second
class. While in the Bern patent office he completed an astonishing range
of theoretical physics publications, written in his spare time without
the benefit of close contact with scientific literature or colleagues.
Einstein earned a doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1905 for a thesis On a new determination of molecular dimensions. He dedicated the thesis to Grossmann.
In the first of three papers, all written in 1905, Einstein examined the phenomenon discovered by Max Planck,
according to which electromagnetic energy seemed to be emitted from
radiating objects in discrete quantities. The energy of these quanta was
directly proportional to the frequency of the radiation. This seemed to
contradict classical electromagnetic theory, based on Maxwell's
equations and the laws of thermodynamics which assumed that
electromagnetic energy consisted of waves which could contain any small
amount of energy. Einstein used Planck's quantum hypothesis to describe the electromagnetic radiation of light.
Einstein's second 1905 paper proposed what is today called the special
theory of relativity. He based his new theory on a reinterpretation of
the classical principle of relativity, namely that the laws of physics
had to have the same form in any frame of reference. As a second
fundamental hypothesis, Einstein assumed that the speed of light
remained constant in all frames of reference, as required by Maxwell's theory.
Later in 1905 Einstein showed how mass and energy were equivalent.
Einstein was not the first to propose all the components of special
theory of relativity. His contribution is unifying important parts of
classical mechanics and Maxwell's electrodynamics.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
The third of Einstein's papers of 1905 concerned statistical mechanics, a field of that had been studied by Ludwig Boltzmann and Josiah Gibbs.
After 1905 Einstein continued working in the areas described above. He made important contributions to quantum theory,
but he sought to extend the special theory of relativity to phenomena
involving acceleration. The key appeared in 1907 with the principle of
equivalence, in which gravitational acceleration was held to be
indistinguishable from acceleration caused by mechanical forces.
Gravitational mass was therefore identical with inertial mass.
In 1908 Einstein became a lecturer at the University of Bern after submitting his Habilitation thesis Consequences for the constitution of radiation following from the energy distribution law of black bodies.
The following year he become professor of physics at the University of
Zurich, having resigned his lectureship at Bern and his job in the
patent office in Bern.
By 1909 Einstein was recognised as a leading scientific thinker and in
that year he resigned from the patent office. He was appointed a full
professor at the Karl-Ferdinand University in Prague in 1911. In fact
1911 was a very significant year for Einstein since he was able to make
preliminary predictions about how a ray of light from a distant star,
passing near the Sun, would appear to be bent slightly, in the direction
of the Sun. This would be highly significant as it would lead to the
first experimental evidence in favour of Einstein's theory.
About 1912, Einstein began a new phase of his gravitational research, with the help of his mathematician friend Marcel Grossmann, by expressing his work in terms of the tensor calculus of Tullio Levi-Civita and Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro.
Einstein called his new work the general theory of relativity. He moved
from Prague to Zurich in 1912 to take up a chair at the Eidgenössische
Technische Hochschule in Zurich.
Einstein returned to Germany in 1914 but did not reapply for German
citizenship. What he accepted was an impressive offer. It was a research
position in the Prussian Academy of Sciences
together with a chair (but no teaching duties) at the University of
Berlin. He was also offered the directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm
Institute of Physics in Berlin which was about to be established.
After a number of false starts Einstein published, late in 1915, the
definitive version of general theory. Just before publishing this work
he lectured on general relativity at Göttingen and he wrote:-
To my great joy, I completely succeeded in convincing Hilbert and Klein.
In fact Hilbert
submitted for publication, a week before Einstein completed his work, a
paper which contains the correct field equations of general relativity.
When British eclipse expeditions in 1919 confirmed his predictions, Einstein was idolised by the popular press. The London Times ran the headline on 7 November 1919:-
Revolution in science - New theory of the Universe - Newtonian ideas overthrown.
In 1920 Einstein's lectures in Berlin were disrupted by demonstrations
which, although officially denied, were almost certainly anti-Jewish.
Certainly there were strong feelings expressed against his works during
this period which Einstein replied to in the press quoting Lorentz, Planck and Eddington as supporting his theories and stating that certain Germans would have attacked them if he had been:-
... a German national with or without swastika instead of a Jew with liberal international convictions...
During 1921 Einstein made his first visit to the United States. His main
reason was to raise funds for the planned Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. However he received the Barnard Medal during his visit and
lectured several times on relativity. He is reported to have commented
to the chairman at the lecture he gave in a large hall at Princeton
which was overflowing with people:-
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
I never realised that so many Americans were interested in tensor analysis.
Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921 but not for relativity rather
for his 1905 work on the photoelectric effect. In fact he was not
present in December 1922 to receive the prize being on a voyage to
Japan. Around this time he made many international visits. He had
visited Paris earlier in 1922 and during 1923 he visited Palestine.
After making his last major scientific discovery on the association of
waves with matter in 1924 he made further visits in 1925, this time to
South America.
Among further honours which Einstein received were the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1925 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1926.
Niels Bohr and Einstein were to carry on a debate on quantum theory which began at the Solvay Conference in 1927. Planck, Niels Bohr, de Broglie, Heisenberg, Schrödinger and Dirac were at this conference, in addition to Einstein. Einstein had declined to give a paper at the conference and:-
... said hardly anything beyond presenting a very simple objection to the probability interpretation .... Then he fell back into silence ...
Indeed Einstein's life had been hectic and he was to pay the price in
1928 with a physical collapse brought on through overwork. However he
made a full recovery despite having to take things easy throughout 1928.
By 1930 he was making international visits again, back to the United
States. A third visit to the United States in 1932 was followed by the
offer of a post at Princeton. The idea was that Einstein would spend
seven months a year in Berlin, five months at Princeton. Einstein
accepted and left Germany in December 1932 for the United States. The
following month the Nazis came to power in Germany and Einstein was
never to return there.
During 1933 Einstein travelled in Europe visiting Oxford, Glasgow,
Brussels and Zurich. Offers of academic posts which he had found it so
hard to get in 1901, were plentiful. He received offers from Jerusalem,
Leiden, Oxford, Madrid and Paris.
What was intended only as a visit became a permanent arrangement by 1935
when he applied and was granted permanent residency in the United
States. At Princeton his work attempted to unify the laws of physics.
However he was attempting problems of great depth and he wrote:-
I have locked myself into quite hopeless scientific problems - the more so since, as an elderly man, I have remained estranged from the society here...
In 1940 Einstein became a citizen of the United States, but chose to
retain his Swiss citizenship. He made many contributions to peace during
his life. In 1944 he made a contribution to the war effort by hand
writing his 1905 paper on special relativity and putting it up for
auction. It raised six million dollars, the manuscript today being in
the Library of Congress.
By 1949 Einstein was unwell. A spell in hospital helped him recover but
he began to prepare for death by drawing up his will in 1950. He left
his scientific papers to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a
university which he had raised funds for on his first visit to the USA,
served as a governor of the university from 1925 to 1928 but he had
turned down the offer of a post in 1933 as he was very critical of its
administration.
One more major event was to take place in his life. After the death of
the first president of Israel in 1952, the Israeli government decided to
offer the post of second president to Einstein. He refused but found
the offer an embarrassment since it was hard for him to refuse without
causing offence.
One week before his death Einstein signed his last letter. It was a letter to Bertrand Russell
in which he agreed that his name should go on a manifesto urging all
nations to give up nuclear weapons. It is fitting that one of his last
acts was to argue, as he had done all his life, for international peace.
Why Einstein was so genius (astrological point of view)
Reason-
In Vedic astrology planets are often found in different states of
strengths and weaknesses. Some planets are in friendly houses, some in
enemy houses, some in houses where they are most powerful or exalted,
and some are in houses where they are least powerful or debilitated.
A
debilitated planet is a cause of worry in Vedic Astrology and is given
special attention by an astrologer. Albert Einstein, the famous
physicist, also had a debilitated planet in his horoscope and it was
none other than Mercury, his ascendant lord.Mercury in Vedic Astrology rules a great number of things but primarily intellect, education, teaching, learning, science, philosophy, mathematics. A debilitated Mercury should have deprived Einstein of having to do anything with these domains in life, but it is well known that he was the fortunate with regard to all these matters, and is considered the greatest scientist of all time.
Moreover, in Einstein’s chart,
shown below, Mercury is the lord of the first house, which governs fame,
as well as the lord of the fourth house, which rules knowledge and
education, but Einstein became famous just because of his education and
knowledge.
A debilitated planet should give so much to a person is because his Mercury, which is located in the tenth house is conjunct an exalted Venus. This has given Mercury cancellation of debilitation, causing Neecha Bhanga Raja Yoga.
A debilitated planet however is not without its bad effects. It is well known that Einstein had communication problems as a toddler. Mercury rules over communication and till the age of 10, Einstein was also going through the Mercury mahadasha. Einstein also had to leave his homeland and permanently migrate to the United States. In fact the German government had even announced a bounty on his head and his name was on a list of most wanted criminals. This trouble from homeland happened because Mercury is also the lord of the fourth house, which rules over residence, home, etc.
Einstein’s Mercury is thus giving both positive and negative effects. Tenth lord Jupiter is aspecting the first house, hence the first house is rendered strong, but Saturn and Sun, two natural malefics, aspecting the fourth house from the tenth have rendered the fourth house weak.
A
debilitated planet thus can give both good and bad effects, depending on
its lordship, placement, and the aspects it receives from other
planets. A careful analysis is required to judge debilitated planets.
They are not always good or always bad. Only an expert astrologer can
tell what kind of effects they can give during their dasha/bhukti.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
What you think about Einstein?
Was Einstein a slow learner as a child?
Einstein was slow in learning how to speak. His parents even consulted a doctor. He also had a cheeky rebelliousness toward authority, which led one headmaster to expel him and another to amuse history by saying that he would never amount to much. But these traits helped make him a genius. His cocky contempt for authority led him to question conventional wisdom. His slow verbal development made him curious about ordinary things — such as space and time — that most adults take for granted. His father gave him a compass at age five, and he puzzled over the nature of a magnetic field for the rest of his life. And he tended to think in pictures rather than words.Was Einstein learning disabled?
Some researchers claim to detect in Einstein's childhood a mild manifestation of autism or Asperger's syndrome. Simon Baron-Cohen, the director of the autism research center at Cambridge University, is among those. He writes that autism is associated with a "particularly intense drive to systemize and an unusually low drive to empathize." He also notes that this pattern "explains the 'islets of ability' that people with autism display in subjects like math or music or drawing -- all skills that benefit from systemizing."* I do not find such a long-distance diagnosis to be convincing. Even as a teenager, Einstein made close friends, had passionate relationships, enjoyed collegial discussions, communicated well verbally and could empathize with friends and humanity in general.Did Einstein flunk math?
One widely held belief about Einstein is that he failed math as a student, an assertion that is made, often accompanied by the phrase "as everyone knows," by scores of books and thousands of websites designed to reassure underachieving students. A Google search of Einstein failed math turns up more than 500,000 references. The allegation even made it into the famous "Ripley's Believe it or Not!" newspaper column.Alas, Einstein's childhood offers history many savory ironies, but this is not one of them. In 1935, a rabbi in Princeton showed him a clipping of the Ripley's column with the headline "Greatest living mathematician failed in mathematics." Einstein laughed. "I never failed in mathematics," he replied, correctly. "Before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus." In primary school, he was at the top of his class and "far above the school requirements" in math. By age 12, his sister recalled, "he already had a predilection for solving complicated problems in applied arithmetic," and he decided to see if he could jump ahead by learning geometry and algebra on his own. His parents bought him the textbooks in advance so that he could master them over summer vacation. Not only did he learn the proofs in the books, he also tackled the new theories by trying to prove them on his own. He even came up on his own with a way to prove the Pythagorean theory.
Did Einstein think in pictures rather than words?
Yes, his great breakthroughs came from visual experiments performed in his head rather than the lab. They were called Gedankenexperiment -- thought experiments. At age 16, he tried to picture in his mind what it would be like to ride alongside a light beam. If you reached the speed of light, wouldn't the light waves seem stationery to you? But Maxwell's famous equations describing electromagnetic waves didn't allow that. He knew that math was the language nature uses to describe her wonders, so he could visualize how equations were reflected in realities. So for the next ten years he wrestled with this thought experiment until he came up with the special theory of relativity.
What thought picture did Einstein use for special relativity?
Among other things, he pictured lightning striking at both ends of a moving train. A person on the embankment might see the strikes as simultaneous, but to someone on the speeding train they would appear to have happened at different moments. Because the train is speeding forward, the light from the strike at the front of the train would reach him a moment before the light from the strike at the back of the train. From that he realized that simultaneity is relative to your state of motion, and from that he came up with the idea that there is no such thing as absolute time. Time is relative. Hence the special theory of relativity.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
What was the thought experiment that led Einstein to general relativity?He imagined a man in free fall. To understand what he saw, imagine a man in a closed elevator chamber that is falling toward the earth. He would float feely in the chamber, and anything he pulled from his pocket and dropped would float freely next to him — just as if he were in a closed chamber sitting still in a gravity-free region of deep outer space. On the other hand, imagine a woman in a closed chamber who is accelerating upward in outer space, far from any gravity. She would feel pulled down to the floor, just as if she were being pulled down by gravity. From the equivalence of gravity and acceleration, he constructed his general theory of relativity.
Is there a thought-picture that describes his conclusions about general relativity?
Gravity, he figured, was a warping of space and time. It can be described by using another thought experiment. Picture what it would be like to roll a bowling ball onto the two-dimensional surface of a trampoline. It curves the fabric as it moves. Then roll some billiard balls. They move toward the bowling ball not because it exerts some mysterious attraction (as Newton's theory had it), but because of the way it curves the trampoline fabric. Now imagine this happening in the four-dimensional fabric of space and time. O.K., it's not easy, but that's why we're no Einstein and he was. He was able to come up with a gravitational field equation that showed how matter curved space and how curved space told matter how to move.
What was Einstein's miracle year?
In 1905, Einstein had graduated from college but had not been able to get a doctoral dissertation accepted or get an academic job. So he was toiling six days a week as a third-class examiner in the Swiss patent office. During his spare time, he produced four papers that upended physics. The first showed that light could be conceived as particles as well as waves. The second proved the existence of atoms and molecules. The third, the special theory of relativity, said that there was no such thing as absolute time or space. And the fourth noted an equivalence between energy and mass described by the most famous equation in all of physics, E=mc2.
What was Einstein's personal life like at the time?
Helping him check his math was a moody Serbian, Mileva Mari, who had been the only woman in his physics class at college. They had fallen passionately in love and had an illegitimate daughter, which he allowed to be given up for adoption before he ever saw her. They then got married and had two boys. Eventually their relationship disintegrated, and Einstein sought a divorce. He offered her a deal: One of those 1905 papers, he presumed, would eventually win the Nobel Prize, and if she gave him a divorce he would give her the prize money. She thought for a week and accepted. Because Einstein's theories were so radical, it took until 1922 before he was awarded the prize and she could collect.
Does Mileva Mari deserve credit as a true collaborator?
Well, she helped with the math. And she put up with him, which was even harder. But a careful analysis of all their letters and later statements shows that the concepts involved were all his. This should not diminish, however, the respect she is due for overcoming most (but not all) of the obstacles facing a woman who wanted at that time to be a physicist.
How was relativity received?
Scientists were unsure at first whether the general theory was right. But Einstein proposed a dramatic experiment. At the next appropriate eclipse, in 1919, scientists could measure how starlight passing close to the sun was bent by its gravity. The six-deck headline in the New York Times read: "Lights All Askew in the Heavens / Men of Science More or Less Agog Over Results of Eclipse Observations / Einstein Theory Triumphs." That was back when folks knew how to write great headlines. Einstein's launch into fame contributed to the birth of a new celebrity age. He became a scientific supernova and humanist icon, one of the most famous faces on the planet. The public earnestly puzzled over his theories, elevated him into a cult of genius, and canonized him as a secular saint.
Why did it take so long for Einstein to get a Nobel Prize?
Initially his 1905 papers were considered baffling and unproven. He was first nominated for the prize in 1910 by the chemistry laureate Wilhelm Ostwald, who had rejected Einstein�s pleas for a job nine years earlier. Ostwald cited special relativity, but the Swedish committee was mindful of the charge in Alfred Nobel's will that the prize should go to "the most important discovery or invention," and it felt that relativity theory was not exactly either of those.
The dramatic announcement in November 1919 that the eclipse observations had confirmed parts of Einstein's theory should have made 1920 his year. But politics intervened. Up until then, the primary justifications for denying Einstein a Nobel had been scientific: his work was purely theoretical, and it putatively did not involve the "discovery" of any new laws. After the eclipse observations, the arguments against Einstein were tinged with more cultural and personal bias, including anti-Semitism. To his critics, the fact that he had suddenly achieved superstar status was evidence of his self-promotion rather than his worthiness of a Nobel. So the 1920 prize instead went to a scientist who was Einstein's scientific opposite: Charles-Edouard Guillaume, who had made his modest mark on science by assuring that standard measures were more precise and discovering metal alloys that had practical uses, including making good measuring rods.
By 1921, the public's Einstein mania was in full force, and there was a groundswell of support for him to win the Nobel — indeed, an expressed sense that it would be inexplicable if he didn't. But the committee was still not ready. The great impasse threatened to become embarrassing. To the rescue rode a theoretical physicist from the University of Uppsala, Carl Wilhelm Oseen, who joined the committee in 1922. He realized that the whole issue of relativity theory was so encrusted with controversy that it would be better to try a different tack. So Oseen pushed hard to give the prize to Einstein for "the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect." Each part of that phrase was carefully calculated. It was not a nomination for relativity, of course. In fact, despite the way it has been phrased by some historians, it was not for Einstein's theory of light quanta, even though that was the primary focus of the relevant 1905 paper. Nor was it for any theory at all. Instead, it was for the discovery of a law.
Thus it was that Einstein became the recipient of the 1921 Nobel Prize, in the words of the official citation, "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect." Einstein would not, as it turned out, ever win a Nobel for his work on relativity and gravitation, nor for anything other than the photoelectric effect.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
What cultural impact did Einstein's theories have?For nearly three centuries, the mechanical universe of Isaac Newton, based on absolute certainties and laws, had formed the psychological foundation of the Enlightenment and the social order, with a belief in causes and effects, order, even duty. Now came a view of the universe in which space and time were dependent on frames of reference. This apparent dismissal of certainties seemed heretical, perhaps even godless. Indirectly, relativity became associated with a new relativism in morality and art and politics. There was less faith in absolutes, not only of time and space, but also of truth and morality. Imaginative nonconformity was in the air: Picasso, Joyce, Freud, Stravinsky, Schoenberg and others were breaking conventional bonds. Infused into this stew was a conception of the universe in which space and time and the properties of particles seemed based on the vagaries of observations.
Was Einstein a moral relativist?
Einstein was interpreted as a relativist by many (including some whose disdain fueled their anti-Semitism.) This was not the case. Beneath all of Einstein's theories, including relativity, was a quest for certainties and absolutes. In fact, he considered calling his masterwork "Invariance Theory" rather than "Relativity Theory," because it was based on underlying invariances and certainties. His objection to quantum mechanics was that it assumed that the realities of the universe depended on our observation of it, which conflicted with his own faith that there was a reality that existed independent of our ability to observe it.
What role did Einstein's Jewish identity play in his life and achievements?
His affiliation with the Jewish people was the strongest bond in his life, even though he did not adhere to the rituals of the religion. There was an anti-Semitic reaction both to the publicity he got and to the abstract and seemingly heretical nature of relativity theory. But the rise in anti-Semitism made him identify with the Jewish people even more. His first trip to America was to raise money for the Zionist movement, and in 1933 he fled Hitler and moved to Princeton. Near the end of his life, he was offered the presidency of Israel, which he politely declined.
Did Einstein believe in God?
Yes. He defined God in an impersonal, deistic fashion, but he deeply believed that God's handiwork was reflected in the harmony of nature's laws and the beauty of all that exists. He often invoked God, such as by saying He wouldn't play dice, when rejecting quantum mechanics. Einstein's belief in something larger than himself produced in him a wondrous mixture of confidence and humility. As he famously declared: "A spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe — a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort."
When asked directly if he believed in God, he always insisted he did, and explained it once this way: "We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws."
Are Einstein's theories still accepted?
Yes. Einstein's tale encompasses the vast sweep of modern science, from the infinitesimal to the infinite -- from the smallest event imaginable, the emission of photons, to the largest conceivable event, expansion of the cosmos. A century after his great triumphs, we are still living in his universe. Photoelectric cells and television, nuclear power and lasers, space travel and even semiconductors all bear his fingerprints. He signed the letter to President Roosevelt suggesting a project to build an atom bomb, and the letters of his famed equation relating energy to mass hover in our minds when we picture the resulting mushroom cloud. The two great theories that in 1905 he ushered into the 20th century -- quantum theory and relativity -- are still twin pillars (although somewhat incompatible ones) of theoretical physics a century later.
Didn't Einstein reject quantum mechanics?
He believed that quantum mechanics, which has probabilities and uncertainties at its foundation, did not give a complete description of the universe. He spent the second half of his career trying to poke holes in the theory and to subsume it in a unified theory that would restore certainty and determinism to physics. He was not successful, but his lonely and stubborn quest tells us a lot about his personality and mind.
What were Einstein's politics?
He was a pacifist until Hitler came to power and caused him to revise his geopolitical equations. He urged the building of the atom bomb, but then became a leader in the movement to find ways to control it. Just as he sought a unified theory in science, he sought a world federalism that would impose order on competing nations. His belief in the value of free thought and speech, and his merry willingness to defy authority, caused him to be an adamant opponent of McCarthyism.
With his resistance to McCarthyism and quantum uncertainty, was Einstein disillusioned at the end?
Einstein was not destined to die a bitter man. He came to understand America's freedoms, and he was pleased that democracy tended to balance itself after such excesses as the McCarthy investigations. On his deathbed in 1955, he worked on a speech he was scheduled to give for Israeli independence day. "I speak to you today not as an American citizen and not as a Jew, but as a human being," it began. He put it aside on that final night to pick up a notebook that was filled with scribbled calculations. To the very end, he struggled to find his elusive unified field theory. And the last thing he wrote, right before the pain overwhelmed him, was one more line of symbols and numbers that he hoped might get him, and the rest of us, just a little step closer to the spirit manifest in the laws of the universe.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
Strange Facts About Einstein
Albert Einstein in a famous 1951 photo by Arthur Sasse.
Read on for more obscure facts about the life of the world’s smartest genius:
1. Einstein Was a Fat Baby with Large Head
When Albert’s mother, Pauline Einstein gave birth to him, she thought that Einstein's head was so big and misshapen that he was deformed!As the back of the head seemed much too big, the family initially considered a monstrosity. The physician, however, was able to calm them down and some weeks later the shape of the head was normal. When Albert's grandmother saw him for the first time she is reported to have muttered continuously "Much too fat, much too fat!" Contrasting all apprehensions Albert grew and developed normally except that he seemed a bit slow. (Source)
2. Einstein Had Speech Difficulty as a Child
Earliest Known Photo of Albert Einstein (Image credit: Albert Einstein Archives,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
One interesting anecdote, told by Otto Neugebauer, a historian of science, goes like this:
As he was a late talker, his parents were worried. At last, at the supper table one night, he broke his silence to say, "The soup is too hot."In his book, Thomas Sowell [wiki] noted that besides Einstein, many brilliant people developed speech relatively late in childhood. He called this condition The Einstein Syndrome.
Greatly relieved, his parents asked why he had never said a word before.
Albert replied, "Because up to now everything was in order." (Source)
3. Einstein was Inspired by a Compass
When Einstein was five years old and sick in bed, his father showed him something that sparked his interest in science: a compass.When Einstein was five years old and ill in bed one day, his father showed him a simple pocket compass. What interested young Einstein was whichever the case was turned, the needle always pointed in the same direction. He thought there must be some force in what was presumed empty space that acted on the compass. This incident, common in many "famous childhoods," was reported persistently in many of the accounts of his life once he gained fame. (Source)
4. Einstein Failed his University Entrance Exam
In 1895, at the age of 17, Albert Einstein applied for early admission into the Swiss Federal Polytechnical School (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule or ETH). He passed the math and science sections of the entrance exam, but failed the rest (history, languages, geography, etc.)! Einstein had to go to a trade school before he retook the exam and was finally admitted to ETH a year later. (Source)5. Einstein had an Illegitimate Child
In the 1980s, Einstein's private letters revealed something new about the genius: he had an illegitimate daughter with a fellow former student Mileva Marić (whom Einstein later married).In 1902, a year before their marriage, Mileva gave birth to a daughter named Lieserl, whom Einstein never saw and whose fate remained unknown:
Mileva gave birth to a daughter at her parents’ home in Novi Sad. This was at the end of January, 1902 when Einstein was in Berne. It can be assumed from the content of the letters that birth was difficult. The girl was probably christianised. Her official first name is unknown. In the letters received only the name “Lieserl” can be found.
The further life of Lieserl is even today not totally clear. Michele Zackheim concludes in her book “Einstein’s daughter” that Lieserl was mentally challenged when she was born and lived with Mileva’s family. Furthermore she is convinced that Lieserl died as a result of an infection with scarlet fever in September 1903. From the letters mentioned above it can also be assumed that Lieserl was put up for adoption after her birth.
In a letter from Einstein to Mileva from September 19, 1903, Lieserl was mentioned for the last time. After that nobody knows anything about Lieserl Einstein-Maric. (Source)
6. Einstein Became Estranged From His First Wife, then Proposed a Strange "Contract"
After
Einstein and Mileva married, they had two sons: Hans Albert and Eduard.
Einstein's academic successes and world travel, however, came at a
price - he became estranged from his wife. For a while, the couple tried
to work out their problems - Einstein even proposed a strange
"contract" for living together with Mileva:The relationship progressed. Einstein became estranged from his wife. The biography reprints a chilling letter from Einstein to his wife, a proposed "contract" in which they could continue to live together under certain conditions. Indeed that was the heading: "Conditions."
A. You will make sure
1. that my clothes and laundry are kept in good order;
2. that I will receive my three meals regularly in my room;
3. that my bedroom and study are kept neat, and especially that my desk is left for my use only.
B. You will renounce all personal relations with me insofar as they are not completely necessary for social reasons...
There's more, including "you will stop talking to me if I request it." She accepted the conditions. He later wrote to her again to make sure she grasped that this was going to be all-business in the future, and that the "personal aspects must be reduced to a tiny remnant." And he vowed, "In return, I assure you of proper comportment on my part, such as I would exercise to any woman as a stranger." (Source)
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
7. Einstein Didn't Get Along with His Oldest Son
After
the divorce, Einstein's relationship with his oldest son, Hans Albert,
turned rocky. Hans blamed his father for leaving Mileva, and after
Einstein won the Nobel Prize and money, for giving Mileva access only to
the interest rather than the principal sum of the award - thus making
her life that much harder financially.The row between the father and son was amplified when Einstein strongly objected to Hans Albert marrying Frieda Knecht:
In fact, Einstein opposed Hans's bride in such a brutal way that it far surpassed the scene that Einstein's own mother had made about Mileva. It was 1927, and Hans, at age 23, fell in love with an older and - to Einstein - unattractive woman. He damned the union, swearing that Hans's bride was a scheming woman preying on his son. When all else failed, Einstein begged Hans to not have children, as it would only make the inevitable divorce harder. ... (Source: Einstein A to Z by Karen C. Fox and Aries Keck, 2004)Later, Hans Albert immigrated to the United States became a professor of Hydraulic Engineering at UC Berkeley. Even in the new country, the father and son were apart. When Einstein died, he left very little inheritance to Hans Albert.
More about Hans Albert: Obituary by UC Berkeley
8. Einstein was a Ladies' Man
Einstein with his second wife and cousin, Elsa
Before marrying Elsa, he had considered marrying her daughter, Ilse, instead. According to Overbye, “She (Ilse, who was 18 years younger than Einstein) was not attracted to Albert, she loved him as a father, and she had the good sense not to get involved. But it was Albert’s Woody Allen moment.” (Source)Unlike Mileva, Elsa Einstein's main concern was to take care of her famous husband. She undoubtedly knew about, and yet tolerated, Einstein's infidelity and love affairs which were later revealed in his letters:
Previously released letters suggested his marriage in 1903 to his first wife Mileva Maric, mother of his two sons, was miserable. They divorced in 1919, and he soon married his cousin, Elsa. He cheated on her with his secretary, Betty Neumann.
In the new volume of letters released on Monday by Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Einstein described about six women with whom he spent time and from whom he received gifts while being married to Elsa.
Some of the women identified by Einstein include Estella, Ethel, Toni and his "Russian spy lover," Margarita. Others are referred to only by initials, like M. and L.
"It is true that M. followed me (to England) and her chasing after me is getting out of control," he wrote in a letter to Margot in 1931. "Out of all the dames, I am in fact attached only to Mrs. L., who is absolutely harmless and decent." (Source)
9. Einstein, the War Pacifist, Urged FDR to Build the Atom Bomb
Re-creation of Einstein and Szilárd signing the famous letter to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939. (Image credit: Wikipedia)
The Einstein and Szilárd's letter was often cited as one of the reasons Roosevelt started the secret Manhattan Project [wiki] to develop the atom bomb, although later it was revealed that the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 probably did much more than the letter to spur the government.
Although Einstein was a brilliant physicist, the army considered Einstein a security risk and (to Einstein's relief) did not invite him to help in the project.
10. The Saga of Einstein's Brain: Pickled in a Jar for 43 Years and Driven Cross Country in a Trunk of a Buick!
After his death in 1955, Einstein's brain [wiki] was removed - without permission from his family - by Thomas Stoltz Harvey
[wiki], the Princeton Hospital pathologist who conducted the autopsy.
Harvey took the brain home and kept it in a jar. He was later fired from
his job for refusing to relinquish the organ.Many years later, Harvey, who by then had gotten permission from Hans Albert to study Einstein's brain, sent slices of Einstein's brain to various scientists throughout the world. One of these scientists was Marian Diamond of UC Berkeley, who discovered that compared to a normal person, Einstein had significantly more glial cells in the region of the brain that is responsible for synthesizing information.
In another study, Sandra Witelson of McMaster University found that Einstein's brain lacked a particular "wrinkle" in the brain called the Sylvian fissure. Witelson speculated that this unusual anatomy allowed neurons in Einstein's brain to communicate better with each other. Other studies had suggested that Einstein's brain was denser, and that the inferior parietal lobe, which is often associated with mathematical ability, was larger than normal brains.
The saga of Einsteins brain can be quite strange at times: in the early 1990s, Harvey went with freelance writer Michael Paterniti on a cross-country trip to California to meet Einstein's granddaughter. They drove off from New Jersey in Harvey's Buick Skylark with Einstein's brain sloshing inside a jar in the trunk! Paterniti later wrote his experience in the book Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein's Brain
In 1998, the 85-year-old Harvey delivered Einstein's brain to Dr. Elliot Krauss, the staff pathologist at Princeton University, the position Harvey once held:
... after safeguarding the brain for decades like it was a holy relic -- and, to many, it was -- he simply, quietly, gave it away to the pathology department at the nearby University Medical Center at Princeton, the university and town where Einstein spent his last two decades.
"Eventually, you get tired of the responsibility of having it. ... I did about a year ago," Harvey said, slowly. "I turned the whole thing over last year [in 1998]."
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
Brilliancy and success
In April 1905 Einstein submitted
his doctoral thesis "A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions" to the
university in Zurich which was accepted in July. During this same year he
published four pioneering papers
in the scientific magazine "Annalen der Physik" which revolutionized
physics around the turn of the century. Three of the papers will be briefly
mentioned here: In the first article "On A Heuristic Point of View
Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light" Einstein proposed
that electromagnetic radiation must consist of quantums or photons. Even though
this theory is capable of explaining - among other things - the photoelectric
effect it was at first rejected by physicists, namely by the pioneer of modern
physics, Max Planck, later, however, confirmed by him and adopted. This work
became the foundation of a quantum theory and for this in particular Einstein
received the Nobel Prize for the year 1921. The paper "On the
Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" delineates the principles of special
relativity which deals with questions of objects as part of different
coordination systems moving with constant speed relative to each other. It
resulted in a new interpretation of the conception of space and time and relies
on the constancy of the speed of light and the principle of relativity which
postulates that it is impossible to determine motions in an absolute way.
Shortly thereafter the paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend upon its
Energy Content?" was published. It contains the famous equation E = m · c2
stating the equivalence of mass and energy. Through these publications Einstein
attracted the attention of the scientific community. At the end of 1906 he
published the paper "Planck's Theory of Radiation and the Theory of
Specific Heat" which can be regarded as being the first publication on the
quantum theory of the solid state.
Einstein's famous equation:
In April 1906 Einstein was promoted to technical expert, second class, at the
patent-office in Bern. His "Habilitation" (in the German-speaking
countries a thesis to be submitted in order to be eligible for a position at the
professorial level at the university) things did not go so well. His first
application was turned down in 1907 by the university of Bern. In early 1908,
however, he was successful and at the end of the same year he gave his first
lecture. Einstein had decided that he wanted to devote his time entirely to
science; hence, he gave up his position at the patent-office in October 1909 and
in the same month he started to work as "Ausserordentlicher Professor"
(adjunct professor) of theoretical physics at the university of Zurich. In 1911
Einstein was offered a chair at the German university in Prague which he took on.
However, already one year thereafter he returned to Switzerland after
having been offered a professorial position at the ETH.
Impressed by Einstein's achievements, Max Planck and the physical chemist
Walther
Nernst attempted to lure the young Einstein to Berlin, then stronghold of
natural sciences. They wanted to make him a member of the Prussian Academy of
Sciences, offer him a professorial position without teaching responsibilities at
Berlin university and make him the head of the - still to be founded -
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute of Physics. For Einstein this offer was so tempting that
he accepted and in April 1914 moved to Berlin with his family. On July 2nd,
1914, he gave his inaugural lecture at the Prussian Academy.
Contrary to his professional advance, Einstein's marriage did not go well. In
consequence, already in July 1914 his wife and children returned to Zurich. As
Einstein was not willing to keep up his marriage with Mileva they became
divorced in February 1919. From 1917 on Einstein became sick, suffering from
various diseases resulting in a general weakness which lasted until 1920.
Throughout this time he was under the loving care of his cousin
Elsa Loewenthal.
They fell in love with each other and on June 2nd, 1919, he married Elsa who had
already two daughters, Ilse and Margot, from her first marriage. The couple then
moved to Haberlandstrasse 5 in Berlin.
Apart from all his work Einstein still found time for playing music. Since
his youth he played the violin and later he frequently was seen on the street
carrying his violin case. He was an admirer of Bach and Mozart and, through
continuous practice, he became a good violinist. Apart from his love for music
he was a devoted sailor. Doing this just for fun, here did he find the time to
think about problems of physics.
From 1909 to 1916 Albert Einstein worked on a generalization of his Special
Theory of Relativity. The results of his efforts were published in March 1916 in
the paper "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity". This
theory investigates coordination systems which experience acceleration relative
to each other and also the influence of gravitational fields to time and space.
Whereas the Special Theory of Relativity was still intelligible to the layman,
this did not apply to the General Theory of Relativity. Moreover, due to the
relatively small relativistic effects, this theory was difficult to verify
experimentally. Einstein - or his General Theory of Relativity - predicted the
perihelion motion of mercury, the gravitational red shift as well as the
deflection of light in a gravitational field. He was convinced that light
deflection by the gravitational field of the sun could be observed during a
total solar eclipse. After several failed observations of total solar eclipses
proof came in 1919: On May 29 of that year the English astronomer Arthur Stanley
Eddington confirmed Einstein's prediction of light deflection when he observed a
total solar eclipse on the volcanic island of Principe in the Gulf of Guinea in
western Africa. A second expedition, led by Andrew Crommelin, observed this
eclipse in Sobral, Brazil.
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
 |
| 3 Light deflection (here amplified) in the gravitational field of the sun |
 |
| 4 Mass curves space and time |
Learn Best Information technology tutorials
 |
On
September 22, 1919 Einstein received a telegram from the Dutch
physician and Nobel laureate Hendrik Antoon Lorentz. It said:
“Eddington found star displacement at rim of
sun preliminary measurements between nine-tenth of a second and
twice that value
Lorentz”
A few
days later, on September 27, Albert Einstein wrote a postcard to his
mother: "… Joyous news today.
H. A. Lorentz telegraphed that the English expeditions have actually
measured the deflection of starlight from the sun."
"During
a total solar eclipse the sun is completely covered by the moon
passing between the sun and Earth. Due to the relatively stringent
conditions for the constellation of the moon between Earth and the
sun, a total solar eclipse is very rare." (German Aerospace Center
DLR)
|
5
Total solar eclipse
|
The official result of these expeditions was announced on November 6, 1919
during a joint meeting of the Royal Society and the Royal Astronomical Society
in London. Thereby Einstein had become the successor of the great Isaac Newton.
Joseph John Thomson, president of the Royal Society, stated solemnly "This
is the most important result related to the theory of gravitation since the days
of Newton...This result is among the greatest achievements of human thinking."
This confirmation of the predictions made by the General Theory of Relativity
made Einstein world-famous and not only among scientists. The perihelion motion
of mercury and the gravitational red shift were also gloriously confirmed
experimentally.
| Now Einstein and his Theory of Relativity were much talked of.
He received invitations and honours from all the world. There was rarely a
magazine which did not report on his achievements with the highest praise. On
the other hand, since 1920 Einstein and his Theory of Relativity became subject
to vigorous attacks which mostly were founded on anti-Semitism. Even Nobel-prize
laureates like Philipp
Lenard and Johannes
Stark publicly took up a hostile
attitude towards Einstein and his theory and pleaded for a "German physics".
In Lenard’s four-volume
work of 1936/37 "Deutsche Physik" (German Physics), written on the
basis of classical physics of the 19th century and with
the accentuation on experimental physics, the theoretical i.e.
Jewish physics was almost completely rejected. Philipp Lenard: "Deutsche Physik" (German Physics) Volume 1: Einleitung und Mechanik (Introduction and mechanics) Volume 2: Akustik und Wärmelehre (Acoustics and thermodynamics) Volume 3: Optik, Elektrostatik und Anfänge der Elektrodynamik (Optics, electrostatics and beginnings of electrodynamics) Volume 4: Magnetismus, Elektrodynamik und Anfänge von Weiterem (Magnetism, electrodynamics and beginnings of further physics) |
6
Cover Volume 2, "Deutsche
Physik" (German Physics), Philipp Lenard, 1936/1937
|
In February 1920 Einstein's mother died in Berlin. Between 1921 and 1923 he
travelled, among others, to the US, Britain, France, Japan and Palestine. Since
that time he began commenting on political issues more and more frequently,
based on a pacifist point of view. In 1922 Einstein became member of the League
of Nations' International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation which he left
one year later even though he supported the aims of the League of Nations. With
a revived belief in the ideals of this organisation Einstein re-joined the
commission in May 1924. Opposed to any kind of violence Einstein supported
pacifist movements whenever he had the chance. In addition, he supported the
cause of the Zionists. He spoke up for the Hebrew University to be founded in
Jerusalem to which he later also bequeathed his entire written legacy. In
November 1952 Einstein even received the offer to become President of Israel
which, however, he turned down.
As the consequence of overworking, in 1928 Einstein developed a heart disease
which took him almost a year to recover from. In 1929 after his 50th birthday he
built a summer house in the municipality of Caputh where he lived with his
family each year between spring and late autumn until the December of 1932.
From 1920 onwards Einstein was working towards a unified field theory which,
apart from gravitation, was also to include electrodynamics. This research would
last until his death and remained unsuccessful. During the first decade of work
towards the unified field theory he was still being supported by colleagues
which, however, after having lost their faith in being able to resolve this
mystery, turned to other problems such as the theory of the new microcosm or
quantum mechanics. Niels Bohr, founder of the so-called Copenhagen School, Max
Born, and - from the then young generation - Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang
Pauli among others became the physicists to develop quantum mechanics. Einstein
thus became a single fighter and gradually scientifically isolated which,
however, did not seem to bother him much. His way into isolation was magnified
as Einstein was unable to accept quantum mechanics and constantly exercised his
criticism. In particular, he was opposed to the probabilities which were applied
in this theory. In this context we have to understand his well-known quotation
"God does not throw the dice". However, as far as quantum mechanics is
concerned, Einstein was wrong because at present this theory is as widely
applied in physics as are Einstein's theories of relativity.
When Einstein and his wife left Caputh in December 1932 to hold a third
series of lectures in the US the political situation in Germany had drastically
changed for the worse. In the 1932 elections the Nazis had become the strongest
political party and in January 1933 Hitler seized power. As the consequence of
the crimes of the Nazis during the "Third Reich" Einstein never again
set his foot on German soil. In March 1933 he resigned from the Prussian Academy
of Sciences and cut off all contacts with any German institution he ever had
dealt with.
Albert Einstein found a new home in the US. From November 1933 on he worked
at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, New Jersey, where in 1935 he
and his wife bought a house in 112, Mercer Street. In December 1936 Einstein's
wife Elsa died. In 1939 his sister Maja moved to his house where she stayed
until her death in 1951.
Since 1939 Europe was on war. Horrified by the imagination that scientists in
Germany were working on an atomic bomb, on August 2, 1939 Einstein signed a
letter to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to draw his attention to the atomic
danger. In this letter he pointed the President to the military possibilities of
atomic energy and encouraged him to intensity US research into nuclear
techniques. This remained his only participation in connection with the atomic
bomb.
On October 1, 1940 Einstein was sworn in as American citizen, keeping however
also his Swiss citizenship. In a public letter to the United Nations in 1946
Einstein proposed to install a world government in which he saw the only chance
for a durable peace. In the following years he intensified these endeavours.
In August 1948 Einstein's first wife, Mileva Maric, died in Zurich. He
himself had to undergo abdominal surgery in the same year. In March 1950 he declared
his will, making his secretary
Helen Dukas
and Dr. Otto Nathan jointly to his
executors. On April 15, 1955 Einstein was transported to hospital in Princeton
because he had severe pain. The diagnosis was a ruptured aneurysm of his
abdominal aorta. As a consequence of this illness Albert Einstein died at the
age of 76 at 1:15 a.m. on April 18, 1955. Following his wish his remains were
cremated the same day and the ashes were about two weeks later put down at an unknown place. Science
had lost one of his foremost thinkers and the world had lost a fighter for peace
and freedom.
Remarks in the Einstein's life
He was offered the Presidency of Israel but declined, having no political or ceremonial ambitions.
Named Time magazine's Person of the Century. [December 1999]
When he left Germany in 1933, the Nazis put a price of 20,000 marks on his head.
Never learned how to drive a car.
Made a telephone call to comedian Sid Caesar,
suggesting they meet to discuss the human condition. Unfortunately, the
meeting never took place because Caesar thought they would have nothing
to talk about.
Was reluctant to sign autographs, and charged people a dollar
before signing anything. He gave the dollars he received to charity.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 (for his discovery of the Photoelectric Effect).
Children with Maric: Lieserl (born January, 1902), Hans Albert (born May 14, 1904), Eduard (born c. 1908).
His second wife was also his cousin.
Became a US citizen in 1940, but retained his Swiss citizenship.
Pictured on the 8¢ US postage stamp in the original issue of the Prominent Americans series, issued 14 March 1966.
Pictured on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp celebrating the centennial of his birth, issued 4 March 1979.
An element, Einsteinium, is named after him.
Said to be a HUGE fan of the legendary Robert Clampett cartoon series, Time for Beany
(1949). It is also believed that he once ended a meeting with
scientists by saying, "Pardon me, gentlemen, but it's Time for Beany!".
After his death, scientists kept his brain preserved and
discovered a physical abnormality. His brain is still preserved in
laboratories.
After his death, his brain was weighed and found to be 1.5 kg
(2.64 lb). It is now preserved in a glass jar in Wichita, KS.
Referenced in the song 'The Call of the Wild (Merengue)' by David Byrne on his 1989 album, "Rei Momo".
Philip Glass created an "opera" in 1976 called "Einstein on the Beach", inspired in part by Einstein's theories.
His wife gave birth to their daughter, Lieserl, in 1902, a year
before they married. They never spoke about her after 1903. It is
assumed that she was adopted by a friend or family member. Some
speculate that she died in 1903 from scarlet fever. Einstein never saw
her.
His son Eduard suffered from a severe form of depression.
He had two daughters with his second wife, Ilsa and Margot. He
adopted them upon his marriage when they were both around twenty years
old.
Cared little for money. He once used a $1500.00 check as a bookmark and then lost the book.
Shares a birthday with Taylor Hanson, Kylie Tyndall, Keaton Tyndall, Quincy Jones, Chris Klein, & Michael Caine
E=mc2 is Einstein's most famous equation, and it establishes a
correlation between mass and energy (c is the speed of light) for the
first time -- later practically exemplified in the splitting of the atom
and the inauguration of the exploration of atomic (nuclear) energy.
Had Asperger Syndrome but wasn't diagnosed until it was discovered by Dr Hans Asperger in the late 1940s.
Is reported to have kept several sets of the same outfit in his
closet so that he could simply grab an outfit without having to think
about what he wanted to wear. This quirk was later given to two
characters played by Jeff Goldblum: Seth Brundle in The Fly (1986) and Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park (1993). The same quirk was parodied by Jim Varney's alter ego, Ernest, in a series of films.
Elected to the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2007 for his services to
science and history (inaugural election). Official induction ceremonies
held in May 2008.
In 2000, DC Comics artist Ed McGuiness often used Einstein's
formula as his signature, after illustrating a full issue of "Superman:
The Man of Steel".
E=MC² was also used in the opening sequence for Twilight Zone (1959) with the caption, "A dimension of mind.".
His IQ has been estimated as falling in between 160 and 180, which
would signify genius intelligence. Einstein himself never took an IQ
test.
Was a Vegetarian.
Walter Matthau played Einstein in the film I.Q. (1994) even though he was a half-foot taller than the famous scientist.
Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld co-wrote a book, of physics, titled The Evolution of Physics.
Wrote a letter in support of the Scottsboro Nine, a group of young
African-American men in Alabama who got convicted of assault and rape
in what was widely seen as an unfair trial. H.G. Wells and Thomas Mann also wrote letters in support of the young men.Einstein said some great things
[giving the most practical, understandable explanation of the
Theory of Relativity; how time can expand or contract] You spend 30
minutes with a beautiful girl, it seems like a moment. You spend a
moment sitting on a hot stove, it seems like 30 minutes.
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
I do not much believe in education. Each man ought to be his own model, however frightful that may be.
Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.
I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The
ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat.
You pull the tail in New
York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only
without the cat.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
There is a race between mankind and the universe. Mankind is
trying to build bigger, better, faster, and more foolproof machines. The
universe is trying to build bigger, better, and faster fools. So far
the universe is winning.
As a young man, my fondest dream was to become a geographer.
However while working in the customs office I thought deeply about the
matter and concluded that it was far too difficult a subject. With some
reluctance, I then turned to physics as a substitute.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and the noblest driving force behind scientific research.
I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.
When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to
the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my
talent for absorbing positive knowledge.
[Quoted by Ted Morgan in the book "FDR", Simon & Schuster,
1985]
I made one great mistake in my life - when I signed the letter to
[President Franklin D. Roosevelt] recommending that atom bombs be made . . . but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them.
[quoted in Life magazine, 9 January 1950]
The grand aim of all
science is to cover the greatest number of empirical facts by logical
deduction from the smallest number of hypotheses or axioms.
A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all
through the months and years but a photograph always remains the same.
How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years
ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they
change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind.
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
[Upon learning of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima] If I had only known, I would have been a locksmith!
[Referring to Mohandas K. Gandhi
after Gandhi's assassination] Generations to come, it may be, will
scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked
upon this earth!
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though
nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.
An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.
Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax.
If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.
The eternal mystery of the universe is its comprehensibility.
Before God, we are equally wise--equally foolish.
I think
Einstein lives in every new thought forever.So
Einstein(E)=(E) Energy Which can not be distory.
This is the story of a great scientist.
Thanks for your interest .
Comments
Post a Comment